This is my opinion only, some will certainly disagree. But if you're not already completely maxing out your tax-advantaged retirement accounts, then you shouldn't be investing directly in the market.
A tax-advantaged account is exactly that: you either don't pay any tax on the investments now and pay taxes when you withdraw (traditional IRA, 401K, some others), or you invest with money you've already paid income tax on and don't pay taxes when you withdraw (Roth IRA, Roth 401k, etc.). In both of these situations, you don't pay taxes on how much it grows (capital gains), which is a huge advantage.
When you invest directly in the market, you'll be subject to capital gains taxes. Generally speaking, you have to be REALLY good investing in the market to perform better than a mutual fund in a tax-advantaged Roth IRA. For most people, you'll pay a 15% gains tax on stocks you hold more than a year, and you'll pay whatever your income tax rate is on stocks you hold less than a year, which is going to be 22%+ for most people playing in the stock market. So you'd have to do at least 15% better than your funds in a retirement account to just break even, and that's unlikely.
Die-hard traders in here will probably try to pick apart what I just said, but in the end, it's just messy and difficult to do from an amateur standpoint, and you'll almost certainly do better putting your investing on autopilot via index funds through a retirement account.
For me, the first thing I'd do is put in whatever percentage I need to in a 401k to take advantage of an employer match (if any). That's literally free money. Then max out a Roth IRA in a good mutual fund ($6000 / year). My current primary fund is VASGX, definitely a set-it-and-forget-it type of fund that's performed well for decades, with very low expenses. Finally, after maxing out at Roth, go back to the 401k and max it out ($19,500 / year). Only after doing all that (which is ~$25,000 a year, quite a good chunk) would I consider investing directly into stocks (assuming you didn't go to something else first, like real estate).
You also didn't mention your mortgage situation (how much is left, interest rate, etc.). A lot of people will poo-poo it, but putting money towards your house is a guaranteed, 100% risk-free return of whatever your interest rate is (a 5% interest rate means you'll see 5% on the dollar per year for the number of years left on your mortgage). You'll always hear people say that you're better off paying the 5% on your mortgage and investing the cash instead; I bet they're not singing that tune right now....
